Much has changed in Northern Ireland Mike Abrahams took these pictures, including the Good Friday Agreement and a return to power sharing.
“I am not a news photographer,” says Abrahams to Cafe Royal, which has published a zine of his pictures of July 12 celebrations, “there are many of my colleagues who have pursued that profession with much greater and success than I. Even though on occasion I had covered some news events, my concern has always been to document the often quiet and unreported insignificant moments that make up the day to day lived experiences of ordinary people living through extraordinary times.”
“The most visible aspect of Loyalist culture was typified by the July 12th celebrations and the days preceding them. These celebrations were to mark the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange (a Dutchman), over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. For many loyalists it is seen as a critical part of their heritage and identity. It is also about a historical right to celebrate and march through areas now inhabited by Catholics, It is an excuse for a huge party, with neighbourhoods competing to build the largest bonfire with burning effigies atop, much drinking and marching with flute bands and beating of the large Lambeg drum reputedly used by the army of William of Orange. For those on the other side of the often invisible walls that separated to two traditions in Northern Ireland, these were provocative triumphalist displays often resulting in violence between the two communities and the police.”
Mike Abrahams became a photographer after working for the ambulance service in Liverpool… Asked once why he takes photographs in black and white, Mike Abrahams explained: “I grew up in Liverpool in the 1950s and 60s, a city in which to my eyes, colour was absent.”
Abrahams started his career as a freelance photographer in 1975 and has worked regularly on assignments for many British, European and American magazines. In 1981 he was a co-founder of Network Photographers, the Internationally renowned picture agency and his work has taken him all around the world. Mike received a World Press Photo Award for Daily Life 2000 and has produced major bodies of work all around the world. Previously he has published three monographs and he has been exhibited internationally.
“I tend to just walk the streets and discover what I find. The process of photographing is just intuitive. I suppose the only impact I hope to have is to produce images that are not stereotyping people, pictures that I hope show empathy and also some intimacy. I also hope they challenge preconceptions and emotionally connect in the way that I have managed to.”
– Mike Abrahams (via)
You can buy One Day in July Northern Ireland 1987–1998 and more like it at Cafe Royal.
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